AFP Africa

The Rwanda-backed M23 armed group has taken control of the mining hub of Walikale in DR Congo, local sources said Thursday, despite attempts to broker a ceasefire this week. The seizure of the town of around 60,000 people late on Wednesday marks the farthest west the anti-government group has advanced into the interior of the Democratic …

M23 fighters seize key DR Congo town despite ceasefire bidThu, 20 Mar 2025 17:32:43 GMT Read More »

Zimbabwean Kirsty Coventry became the first woman and African to be elected president of the International Olympic Committee on Thursday, declaring it to be an “extraordinary moment”.At 41, the two-time Olympic swimming champion is also the youngest person ever to be elected to the most powerful position in sports governance.The Zimbabwean Sports Minister succeeds Thomas …

Kirsty Coventry elected first woman president of Olympic movementThu, 20 Mar 2025 16:02:03 GMT Read More »

Kirsty Coventry says she has “learned the best lessons by failing” and the Zimbabwean swimming great’s mantra appears to have served her well after she became the first woman and African to be elected president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).”Everything’s scary. Embrace that. You have to fail,” Coventry told the swimming team at her …

Out of Africa: Hard knocks the spur for history-making CoventryThu, 20 Mar 2025 15:31:07 GMT Read More »

Armed men shot and killed four people at a taxi rank in central Johannesburg on Thursday, South African police said, reporting a similar shooting near the city the day before that killed three others.The shootings are believed to be linked to rivalries between taxi associations, police said, with assassinations and violence marking the competitive and …

Seven killed in S.Africa shootings linked to taxi rivalryThu, 20 Mar 2025 12:07:44 GMT Read More »

The once-pristine white oil tanks of Sudan’s largest refinery have been blackened by nearly two years of devastating war, leaving the country heavily dependent on fuel imports it can ill afford.The Chinese-built Al-Jaili refinery, some 70 kilometres (45 miles) north of Khartoum, was captured by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), just days after fighting …

Battle for Khartoum wrecks key Sudan oil refineryThu, 20 Mar 2025 11:54:54 GMT Read More »

A court on Thursday set for November the trial of a daughter of South Africa’s former president Jacob Zuma, accused of inciting 2021 riots that left more than 350 people dead.Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, 42, is among several people charged with inciting terrorism and public violence via posts on social media after Zuma was sent to prison …

Riots trial of ex S.Africa president’s daughter to start in NovemberThu, 20 Mar 2025 09:47:40 GMT Read More »

For the past two months, Elsie has been receiving daily calls from desperate children surviving on HIV treatment whom she is not allowed to help.The lively 45-year-old aid worker, who did not want to give her real name, used to spend her days visiting hundreds of HIV patients in South Africa’s Msogwaba township around 300 …

‘Some won’t survive’: US cuts threaten S.Africa’s young HIV patientsThu, 20 Mar 2025 07:44:38 GMT Read More »

Few details on a possible ceasefire in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo had come to light on Wednesday, the day after Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi and his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame held surprise talks in Doha.Fighting in the mineral-rich east of the DRC has recently intensified with the Rwanda-backed M23 armed group launching a …

Little light on DR Congo truce terms shed after surprise summitWed, 19 Mar 2025 19:17:22 GMT Read More »

Months of political infighting in Nigeria’s oil-rich Rivers State have culminated in the federal government declaring a state of emergency, putting residents on edge and throwing the country into constitutional uncertainty.The region is prone to street gang violence and theft from crude pipelines, but it’s also a key economic lifeline for the west African fossil …

Emergency declaration upends government in oil-rich Nigerian stateWed, 19 Mar 2025 17:32:20 GMT Read More »

The terms of a possible ceasefire in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo were unclear Wednesday, a day after Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi and his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame held surprise talks in Doha.Fighting in the mineral-rich east of the DRC has recently intensified with the Rwanda-backed M23 armed group launching a lightning offensive and …

DR Congo ceasefire terms still unclear after surprise summitWed, 19 Mar 2025 16:29:27 GMT Read More »